你

你 (nǐ) is the second-person singular pronoun 'you' in Mandarin — the everyday word used between equals, friends, classmates, and family. Two things differ from English: first, Chinese distinguishes politeness through 您 (nín, polite 'you'), used with elders, customers, strangers in formal settings, or anyone the speaker wants to show respect to — English has no equivalent; second, 你 itself doesn't change form for subject or object (no 'you/your' alternation) — to make it possessive, add 的: 你的 ('your'). The plural is 你们 (nǐmen, 'you all'). The character 你 has the 'person' radical 亻on the left, marking it as relating to people. Note: when 你好 is said, the tone of 你 changes from third to second tone in tone-sandhi, but written pinyin keeps nǐ.

Note: 你 is the everyday singular 'you.' For respect (elders, customers, strangers in formal settings), use the polite form 您 (nín). For plural 'you,' add 们 → 你们 (nǐmen).

Memory hook: 你 has the 亻 (person) radical — pronouns for people get this radical: 你 'you,' 他 'he,' 她 'she.'